The Research Publication and Open Access Policy outlines the principles which should underpin the publication of all research associated with the University of Derby.
Presentation of Research Findings
- Research and all findings should be accurately presented and without selection that could be misleading.
- All research publications should contain enough information to allow other researchers to accurately repeat the methods and processes originally used, where possible, encouraging reproducibility. The use of any Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) tools should be declared and clearly explained in publications as is expected for any other methodology, software or tools.
- Authors should not publish more than one paper based on the same set of data, except where there are full and thorough references and acknowledgements made to the earlier publication(s).
- Authors must acknowledge the work of all contributors (including collaborators and others who have supported the research) who do not meet the criteria for authorship. Authors must acknowledge the source of any funding associated with the research, including funding from the University. This applies when publishing research findings and whenever statements are made regarding the research, for example conference presentations. Where data or samples from third parties have been used, the source of the data or samples must be acknowledged. To ensure transparency and openness of research contributions, researchers, should utilise Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT).
Expectations of Authors and Authorship
- All research published under the auspices of the University should always include 'University of Derby’ in the first author address field (to denote affiliation).
- Where there are no discipline-specific, funder or journal requirements, the general rule is that an individual should only be listed as an author if they have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the publication’s creation, this can also include non-academic collaborators. Note that inclusion of authors from non-academic institutions is of importance to the Knowledge Exchange Framework. The University would expect anyone meeting the criteria below to be listed as an author:
- An individual who has made a substantial contribution to either the conception of design of the research project or the analysis/interpretation of the research data and
- Drafted the publication and/or revised the publication for important intellectual content and
- Approved the version to be published and
- Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
- An author must be able to identify their specific contribution to the Research Publication. They are responsible for reviewing and taking responsibility for their contribution prior to the publication. Once published, all the authors are deemed to endorse the publication and collectively support the findings of the research.
- Gen AI does not meet the requirements of authorship as it does not meet the requirement for accountability. Therefore, Gen AI should not be included as an author on any scholarly works associated with the University.
- The practice of ‘honorary (or gift) authorship’ is not acceptable, neither is failing to list someone as an author who meets the relevant authorship criteria.
- The University does not support the purchase of authorship or co-authorship of publications. Involvement in such activities may result in disciplinary action.
- Research Publications must be the authors own and not others’ ideas, data, words or other material without adequate citation, attribution, and transparent referencing.
- Authors may have potential conflicts of interest, that could have had an effect on their research, or could be seen as having had an effect on their research. Therefore, responsible publishers will expect authors to declare potential conflicts of interest, often in the form of a statement after the Acknowledgements.
- Authors must use a persistent author identifier, ORCiD (Open Researcher Contributor ID) when submitting author details for a publication, where the publisher enables this.
- Research Publications must be included on University programme or module resource lists where relevant and appropriate.
Research Publications
- Research Publications should be peer reviewed through accepted academic and professional channels wherever possible.
- The University will not knowingly support the publication of research undertaken under the University’s auspices with a predatory publisher, including supporting payment of Article Processing Charges (APCs).
Generative Artificial Intelligence
- Where Gen AI tools are used to support the writing process, this must be acknowledged and documented appropriately. Authors should note the specific requirements of individual publishers. Authors using Gen AI to support the writing process must use it in the context of the University’s Guidance on the Acceptable and Responsible use of Gen AI in Research, which can be found here.
- Gen AI tools should not be used to create or manipulate images submitted for publication, beyond manipulating images to improve clarity e.g. brightness, contrast or colour balance, that does not obscure or eliminate information in the original image. The only exception to this is where the use of Gen AI tools to create or manipulate images is part of the research being described in the publication. In such cases, a clear description of how the content was created or manipulated must be included in the publication.
